Treadle



(No Model.)

J. H. WHITNEY.

TREADLE.

No. 394,626. Patented Dec. 18, 1888.

WITNESS E5 5W4. J W.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

JAMES H. IVIIITNEY, OF BROOKLYN, NE\V YORK.

TREADLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,626, dated December 18, 1888.

Application filed January 30, 1888. Serial No. 262,310. (No model.)

eign Letters Patent Wl1tl7VGl,) of which the following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are to make the treadle completely elastic in its fulcrum, bearing, and action under all circumstances, whatever the pressure applied thereto, and to secure all the necessary and incidental benefits of such a construction.

So-called elastic treadles have been heretofore made; but, so far as I am aware, they are elastic only under limitations that is to say, they are elastic under a limited amount of pressure, but as the pressure is increased they finally reach a solid bearing, like that of the ordinary treadles long in use, because they rest upon or are supported by a spring interposed between the treadle and a fixed and solid fulcrum or hearing. My invention differs from these in being so constructed that there is no solid, fixed, or rigid fulcrum or bearing, that no amount of pressure will bring the treadle to a solid bearing, and that to whatever extent pressure is applied thereto the resilient action of the spring, or a portion thereof, may be realized and utilized, first, to assist the -action of the feet and limbs in the act of recovery, and, second, to contribute an appreciable amount or proportion of the original pressure taken up by the spring to the operation of the mechanism intended to be driven by the treadle and its pitmanas, for instance, in a sewing-machine. In other words, my treadle. has no solid bearing, but only an elastic one.

I attain the objects of my invention by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front view of a stand having a treadle., a balance-wheel, and a pitman connecting the two. Fig. 9 is a detail view, in part sectional, showing one side of the treadle provided with a projecting arm or trunnion suspended in and by a spring. Fig. 3 is a front view of the spring and its chamber, case,

or cover; and Figs. 4, 5, and (J are detail views showing a modification.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

S is an ordinary sewing-machine stand; I], a balance-wheel; T, the treadle, and P the pitman. The two legs or sides of the stand are provided with arms or brackets A A,which may be of any desired form and attached to the legs of the stand in any usual way. Each one of the arms A A is provided with the tubular spring chamber, case, or cover C C, and these chambers are provided with covers D D. In each one of these spring-chambers a coiled spring E, Figs. 2 and 3, is suspended upon the pin F, which is preferably made to pass through the walls of the upper part of the chamber C through the cover D, and also through the eye B of the spring E. The lower end of the spring E is also provided with an eye, B, to receive the trunnion G of the treadle Tthis on each side of the treadle. The tubular springchamber C is slotted on the side adjacent to the treadle, as shown. at K, and the trunnions G pass through the slot to engage the eye of the spring, being made of a size to fit easily but not loosely therein, and so as to permit the treadle to rise and fall, while the trunnions, being held by the sides of the slots K K, are permitted to move vertically therein, and thereby hold the treadle T in proper relations to the pitman, the machine, the other mechanical parts, and also to the feet of the operator when actuating it, without at any time or at any point of their action reaching a solid bearing or bearings, the trunnions being held by the springs and suspended t'rom above.

Of course the trunnions fit the eyes of the springs E E not li)0 tightly on each side of the treadle, but so as to allow the proper vibratory motion of the treadle. The balancewheel H has the ordinary fixed bearing.

Starting with the highest, and, in fact, the normal position of the treadle, as fixed by the weight of the treadle and the stiffness of the springs on each side, when the foot of the operator is placed upon the treadle the amount of depression or the position of the treadle will depend upon the weight and the pressure bearing upon the treadle, and will therefore vary as they vary; but in whatever position, the treadle will be held in place by the joint action of the springs E E and the sides of the slots K K in contact with the trunnions G G, and at whatever point the vibratory motion may be given to the treadle motion will be transmitted through the pitman to the balance-wheel, to the driving-Wheel, and to the sewinganachine or other mechanism to be operated. Then the weight or pressure of the foot upon the treadle is diminished, the treadle will rise under the control or action of the springs, and thereby contribute a certain amount of force and motion, either to raising the forward part of the treadle, the pitman, &c., together with the toes of the operator, or will aid the operator, whenever the pressure on the heel is relaxed, in raising the heel, and to some extent the leg, preparatory to the suc-, ceeding vibratory action of the foot, Conse quently the operator will be assisted by the springs to a greater or less extent in both the toe and the heel motion, and an appreciable portion of the weight and pressure brought to bear upon the springs will be recovered, returned, or contributed to the operation of the mechanism, and also to the movement of the foot and leg of the operator, without subjecting the operator to any shock receivable from or caused by a fixed bearing, the eifect of which is not only to cause a useless expenditure of muscular force to be taken up by the machine and the floor, but through repeated shocks thus given to the muscles and the nerves to cause an earlier consumption or exhaustion of the power of the operator, or, in the case of a vigorous operator, the employment and waste of an excess of power.

will also be observed that, strictly speaking,

the treadle is not supported as from below, but is suspended as from above, and therefore, however much pressure may be put upon the treadle, it can never reach a solid bearing, but as the pressure increases the spring opens or expands instead of becoming compresscdJ hat I claim as my invention is 1. A balanced treadle suspended from vertically-yielding spring-bearings only.

2. The balanced treadle T, suspended from and in combination with the springs E E.

3. The treadle T, suspended from the springs E E and the slotted chambers C 0, all in combination.

4:- In combination, a balance-wheel, a pitman for operating the same, and a balanced treadle connected therewith and suspended from vertically-yielding spring-bearings.

5. A balanced treadle provided with trunnions G G, arranged to vibrate vertically in the slots K K, in combination with the springs E E.

JAMES H. XVI-IITNEY,

Vitnesses:

JAMES R. SKILToN, EDWARD S. BERRALL.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 394,626, granted December 18 upon the application of James H. Whitney, of Brooklyn, New York, for an im ment in Treadles, an error appears in the printed specification requiring con as follows: In lines 52 and 53, page 1, the words and figures and Figs. 4, 5, ant detail views showing a modification, should be stricken out and that the said 1 Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 8th day of January, A. D. 1889.

[SEAL] D. L. HAWKINS,

Assistant Secretary of the In Oountersigned BENTON J. HALL,

Commissioner of Patents. 

